Emily Brontë

Emily Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire England on July 30th, 1818. She was one of six children and the sister to famous Victorian authors Charlotte and Anne Bronte. The sisters were the children of a Reverend and were brought to live on the famous English moors at a young age. Emily's mother, Maria, died when she was only three years old and she and her siblings were raised by her father with the help of her aunt thereafter. Writing became a pastime for the Bronte children at a young age. They began writing plays and making up stories to entertain each other. Bronte attended a girl's school for a short time but found that she missed her home and returned soon after.

Emily attempted to become a teacher in 1838 but found that her health suffered from the stress and returned home again to serve as the stay-at-home daughter and housekeeper. She taught herself German and how to play the piano.

During their early twenties, Emily and Charlotte planned on opening a school of their own and teaching. However, after they attended more schooling and tried to open a school they found that it was difficult to attract students to the remote town that they lived in.

In 1845, Charlotte attempted to publish some of Emily's poems but Emily became insulted by the invasion of her privacy and refused to let her. However, after Anne revealed that she, too had been writing poems, Emily relented and allowed her poems to be published under a pen name. All three sisters chose a pen name that resembled their own name and published a work containing all of their poems. The work did not sell very well. Despite this, Emily published her most well-known work and only novel, "Wuthering Heights" in 1847 under her pen name, Ellis Bell.

The novel was originally published as two volumes in a three volume set including Anne's novel "Agnes Grey". The novel received mixed reviews upon first being published and many Victorian readers were offended by it's violent and passionate characters. Most of the public assumed that the book was written by a man and Emily's name was not added to the cover under after her death years later.

In 1848, Emily began feeling ill and soon came down with tuberculosis. She refused to see a doctor and quickly grew worse. She dies on December 19th, 1848 at the age of 30 and was buried in the family tomb in Haworth, Yorkshire, England. After her death, Charlotte re-released 'Wuthering Heights' with her sister's real name on the cover and the book began to see better sales. It has since become regarded as a literary classic and is one of the most well-known English books of all time.